The 2015 season has started off with a bang, and the farmers are not the only ones capitalizing on the warmer weather. There is a construction project taking place on Fulton Street in front of the market. As the construction changes around please remember that there is a market entrance on Fountain St. Also if you ride the bus to the market this construction project has altered the route so please check with The Rapid for the update routes.

Determined and unbelievably upbeat, a dozen Fulton Street market vendors continue outside in the snowy tundra while six vendors move into the warm building for the Saturday winter market from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Most markets in Michigan are two or three-season operations with tarps and tables dismantled around Halloween, certainly before Thanksgiving. The hearty souls – who grow, catch, pluck, brew, and bake the homegrown food and drink that we devour – show up each and every Saturday – through Michigan’s wintry stew.

Let’s have a community party to share the bounty, one bowl at a time, decided Chef Matt Overdevest, FSFM board member. “Let’s give market shoppers a chance to linger amongst friends and farmers,” says Overdevest, a Culinary School of America-trained chef.

The Fulton Street winter market gathers the community, equally a place of necessity and destination, says Theresa Hogerheide, FSFM board president and blogger at Michigan Local Food Beet. “The winter market brings about this wonderful camaraderie,” says Hogerheide, “and surprise that we can eat locally year-round, even if we have to tunnel through the snow to get here.”

“Soup @ Fulton Street Farmers Market will be a great opportunity to taste, touch and talk about local eating year-round,” says Overdevest, joining a crowd of eager customers clamoring to buy Case Visser’s winter vegetables — locally grown beets, carrots, celery root, potatoes, rutabagas, and turnips, as well as kale, spinach and honey.

“I love to coax the flavor out of homegrown root vegetables – I mean I can sweet talk it right down to a delicious soup base,” Overdevest says. “The first thing that most people do when they make soup is grab a can or box of stock and start there. That’s just gives you a chemical kind of taste, that is terrible.

“When I make soup, everything is based in water,” he continues. “I use roasted vegetable puree that I am puree-ing very smoothly and turning that into my stock. When I roast the vegetables, I’m kind of caramelizing the sugars within the vegetables and turning that into something gorgeous.”

With locally grown vegetables, Overdevest might leave the skins on which offers added nutrients and sometimes flecks beautifully in the soup, looking a bit like peppercorn flecks.

“I think soup is a journey really,” says Sanwald, author of “Basics with a Twist: Life and Food at Brickyard Farms.” “A good soup recipe lives within all of us – it’s just waiting to come out.”

Matt Overdevest’s Winter Vegetable Soup

SOUP BASE

2 white or yellow onions, peeled and diced

4 garlic cloves, peeled

1 celery root (not stalk celery), peeled and diced

½ winter squash (neck of a butternut or ½ of kumbocha), peeled and diced

1 large apple, cored and quartered

SOUP FILLING

2 turnips, peeled and diced

4 carrots, peeled and sliced into ½-inch coins

2 parsnips, peeled and sliced into ½-inch coins

½ winter squash, (other ½ from above), peeled and diced

2 tablespoons fresh thyme (1 tablespoon dried), leaves off the stem

2 fresh spinach, handfuls rough chopped

1 bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped

2 tablespoons cider or white wine vinegar

SPICE MIXTURE (see recipe below)

PREPARATION: To prepare the soup base In a 8-quart pot (or larger,) add enough oil to coat the bottom and place it on a medium high heat. When the oil ribbons (gets hot and looks like ribbons are running through the oil,) add the onions, stirring occasionally. When the onions are translucent and have a little color, remove half of them for later; add garlic celery root, half of the winter squash, apple and enough water to cover by an inch. Simmer covered until everything is soft. Puree the mixture with a stick blender in the pot, or carefully in a blender. Fill the blender half-way and cover the lid with a towel for safety; start on lowest setting and work up to higher speeds.

Return the soup base from above to medium high heat. Add the reserved onions, turnip, carrot, parsnip, remaining half of the squash and thyme; adjust the heat to maintain a simmer. Cook vegetables until tender but not a soft texture- check after about 15 minutes. Adjust the consistency with a little additional water if needed. When the texture suits you, adjust the salt level and remove from the heat. Stir in the spinach, parsley and vinegar. Serve with some of the spice mixture to enhance.

SPICE MIXTURE

1 teaspoon caraway seed, whole

1 teaspoon cumin seed, whole

1 teaspoon poppy seed

1 tablespoon sesame seed

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon red chili flakes, optional

PREPARATION: Place a sauté pan on medium heat and dry toast the seeds till fragrant. Turn off the heat and add the oil and chili flakes to combine. Spoon over or stir into soup.

The 2015 Winter Market will be open every Saturday from 10am-1pm throughout the winter until the end of April to bring you the freshest local goodies available in Michigan! We typically have a minimum of 15 vendors – both inside and outside, and you will be able to find produce such as root vegetables, greens, meats of all types, breads and baked goods, hard cider, cheeses, apples, honey, syrup, eggs and more! We update our Facebook page every Saturday morning with a list of vendors in attendance, just in case you wish to check out what is available on any given week.

Attention all you bee and Fulton Street Market lovers! Brewery Vivant (located on Cherry Street near Diamond) is raising awareness for the dilemma facing bees worldwide. On August 4th the brewery will be showing a movie starting at 7p.m. highlighting this predicament as well as donating proceeds from the day to both the Aquinas Bee Keeping Club and the Fulton Street Farmers Market. This event will feature a beer brewed with Michigan Honey and the proceeds will be going towards new bike racks in the market. If you would like more information on this wonderful event please visit their website: breweryvivant.com

An upcoming event at Brewery Vivant will be donating some of the profits to support the Fulton Street Farmers Market in addition to the Aquinas bee keepers club. A video will be shown at the restaurant showcasing the plight of bees nationwide. If you are interested in more information please check out the links below:

The FSFM is looking for a qualified and enthusiastic person to fill the role of Food Assistance Specialist/Pilot Program Facilitator. If you are looking for a stable position look no further than the Market which has been providing the greater Grand Rapids area with fresh and local goods for nearly 100 years. Check the job description link below if you are interested!

The FSFM is looking for a qualified person to fill the contract position of Food Assistance Specialist/Pilot Program Facilitator. Deadline for applications is Monday, June 23rd at 5:00 p.m. Access the full job description here: JOB POSTING

Attention all you friends of the Fulton Street Farmers Market, we are about to have our first annual Summer Solstice Party! For a suggested minimum admission fee of 25$ you can delight in some local foods, music, and drinks. Come and enjoy our new facility and celebrate our 92nd year here in the heart of Midtown. Additionally we will be excited to share our new status as an independent nonprofit and the kickoff of our Friends of FSFM group. For more information and to purchase tickets please check out https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fulton-street-farmers-market-summer-solstice-party-tickets-11772853923